The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 22

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T H E

THERE’S STILL WORK TO DO THIS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH page 4

thursday, 03.11.21

ALESTLE

1996: 53,613

2002: 46,945 2000: 45,884

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vol. 74 no. 22

The Student Voice Since 1960

A timeline of abortion rates in Illinois and changes in state and federal policy 1998: 49,403

MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM RALLIES BEHIND GRIEVING PLAYER

2006: 46,467 2004: 43,537

Teaching assistants push to continue pay negotiations

2016: The Supreme Court ruled that Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers laws violated the 14th Amendment 2010: 41,859 2008: 47,717

2014: 38,472 2012: 43,203

2018: 42,441 2016: 38,382

DALTON BROWN copy editor

1995: 52,300

1999: 45,924

2003: 42,228

1997: 50,147

2001: 46,546

2007: 45,298 2005: 43,409

2011: 41,324 2009: 46,077

2003: Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which prohibited any physician from knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion, except when necessary to save the life of the patient

2015: 39,856

ly after researching about it, and hearing and talking about it.” Caldwell-Day’s connection to Bentley was important, because she was raised in Rush City, like Redmond. Sophomore technical theater major Tylan Mitchell of St. Louis, who also acted in the project, said Bentley was an important mentor to him. “She knew I had a passion for Black history, Black art and things of that nature,” Mitchell said. “So we would always have conversations about Black Theatre Workshop prior [to this].” The production’s subject matter was relatable to many of

Despite joining a union in 2019, SIUE graduate teaching assistants are still paid significantly less than their SIUC counterparts. With TA workloads showing no sign of slowing, the Service Employees International Union looks to continue negotiations with the university on their behalf. Allie Ouimet, a master’s in literature candidate from Hanover Park, Illinois, and a teaching assistant in the university’s Department of English Language and Literature, said her work typically extends outside of the hours in her contract. “I have 23 students, and so with papers and creating lesson plans and attending class, I usually have about 40 or more hours a week of just grading and emailing and lesson planning and communication with my students, and then actual class, so it’s a lot,” Ouimet said. Jerry Weinberg, dean of the SIUE Graduate School, said teaching assistant’s contracts call for far fewer hours. “Typically, TAs are hired either as 25 percent or 50 percent of full-time, ‘full-time’ being a full week. So, at 25 percent, they should be working 10 hours per week, and at 50 percent, they should be working 20 hours per week,” Weinberg said. “During the summer, they can work more hours, but then they also get paid more.” Weinberg said those who regularly go over their allotted hours should contact the graduate school; he said they can reach out to him at jweinbe@siue.edu and/ or take advantage of a new graduate school feedback form within the graduate school newsletter. Even with measures in place to address TAs’ workloads, there is still work to be done concerning their pay. Ouimet said she doesn’t feel fairly compensated for the work she’s doing, especially considering the wage disparity between SIUE and SIUC. “I think it’s very unfair … we’re sister schools, so we should kind of have the same outlook and guidelines and kind of follow off of each other, and the fact that SIU Carbondale — they make so much more than us for the same work, and sometimes even less — it’s really discouraging, and it

see FILM on page 2

see UNION on page 3

2013: 40,750

2013: 1975 law requiring parental notification 48 hours before a minor received an abortion was deemed enforceable

2017: 39,329

2017: Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law allowing Medicaid to cover abortion

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

Sourced from Illinois Department of Public Health, the Chicago Tribune, ourbodiesourselves.org and congress.gov

New house bill to repeal abortion restriction THOMAS DRAKE reporter

Illinois House Bill 1797 is meant to repeal the controversial requirement for pregnant minors to notify their legal guardian 48 hours before receiving an abortion from the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. Consent from the guardian isn’t needed, just a notification. The act had a long and complicated legal battle in the process of becoming law. The act wasn’t put into effect until July 11, 2013 when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 was constitutional. Now

in 2021 the act is going through the process of being repealed from this new house bill. Freshman business administration major Gage Crader from Godfrey, Illinois said that if a person is old enough, they should have the freedom to do whatever they want with their body. “I don’t necessarily agree with abortion, but if a person is old enough to have sex to conceive a child, then they should be able to do what they want with their body,” Crader said. Crader said one of the reasons that the Parental Notice Act is being repealed in 2021 is that younger people have a louder voice now.

“With social media and the internet, it’s easier for teenagers, like high schoolers, to get involved and in touch with the rest of the world,” Crader said. Professor of Political Science Andrew Theising said the bill’s repeal was made possible by a transfer of power between parties. “I should say that the bill was passed back in 1995. The Republicans controlled the House and the Senate and the governor’s office,” Theising said. “And then in 2019, we have a case where the Democrats control the House, the Senate and the governor’s office, and that’s when overturning this bill really started to gain momentum and here it’s happened in 2021.”

Other states like Colorado, Georgia, Iowa and Minnesota have similar laws requiring minors to notify their parents before having an abortion. Theising said these laws have had an effect on the number of abortions in the U.S. “The number of abortions has really been going down quite a bit, and it has probably to do [as much with] contraception as it is [does] to the restrictive laws that a lot of states have put in place,including Missouri,” Theising said. Theising said he doesn’t see how a parental notice helps a pregnant minor. see BILL on page 3

Black Theatre Workshop returns in film EMILY STERZINGER online editor

SIUE’s Theater and Dance Department continued its annual Black Theatre Workshop this year as a series of short films, focused on the nearby city of East St. Louis. The film was uploaded in three separate parts, and the full performance will be uploaded on March 14. The series, named ‘ESTL,’ was produced as a collaborative piece along with SIUE’s Sociology Department and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center, meant to share real experiences of those who grew up in East St. Louis. The

three short films are comprised of monologues based on real interviews, performed by students of the Theater and Dance Department. Director of the films and SIUE alumnus Michael Watkins said he hopes this will help change public perceptions of East St. Louis. The city itself has a past of being plagued by racist violence, the effects of such being felt even a century later. “I feel like overall, this kind of just says that East St. Louis is more than just a violent city. It’s a community that’s been hurt by so many factors,” Watkins said. Sophomore theater performance major Troy Caldwell-Day

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of Detroit acted in one of the films and became involved with the production by being an URCA assistant to Associate Professor of Theater Performance Kathryn Bentley, who served as the production’s artistic director. “Everyone that you saw or will see that acted in this series all wrote the pieces that they perform,” Caldwell-Day said. “My piece, or my monologue, whichever you want to call it, it is about a particular part of East St. Louis on its south side, known as Rush City, and it’s based off an interview with Eugene Redmond [a poet who worked in East St. Louis]. It was very similar to how that city resonated with me personal-

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